From Moonscape To Lush: Photographs Capture California Drought’s Story.
In California, an extremely wet winter put an end to the state’s record-breaking drought.
Heavy rainfall also produced welcome spring scenes — like replenished reservoirs and fields in bloom.
"It’s just like a velvety green, lush landscape now — compared to just dry, brown, almost like a moonscape before."
In early 2014, Sullivan documented the drought at its worst.
Now, many of those desolate landscapes Sullivan captured look completely different.
So he went back and tried to recreate the same shots.
Sullivan downloaded the 2014 images onto his iPad and brought it with him when he shot the "after" photos.
In one side-by-side set of photos, the 2014 version shows a man walking his dog.
When Sullivan returned to the (now green, grassy) hillside this year, he was able to snap a photo of another woman walking her dog in almost the exact same spot.

By Wayne Hooper / sports@seacoastonline.com Wildlife biologists in Maine say it could take up to four years for the state’s wild brook trout population to fully recover from last year’s drought.
Not with guns, but with fishing rods.
Currently there are certified 4-H Shooting Sports instructors in every county in Maine, and that list is growing.
Instructors must be at least 21 years of age.
nnn Every bow hunter in the world should be aware of Fred Bear.
n Don’t look for deer, look for movement and remember it’s what they’re looking for, too.
n The best camouflage pattern is called, “Sit down and be quiet!” Your grandpa hunted deer in a red plaid coat; think about that for a second.
n Hunt where the deer actually are, not where you’d imagine them to be.
n Next year’s hunt begins the minute this season’s hunt ends.
Wayne Hooper is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and a lifelong Seacoast resident.

Wet winter and spring bust Montana drought.
In July 2016, a dry spring and the early melt of a below-average snowpack in the months prior resulted in 10 Montana counties being in extreme drought.
In January it was a little better but not by much.
The same storms that slammed California would head northeast to Montana, but that’s not the whole story of our drought reduction.
Many storms coming from the Pacific this year were quite strong and packed a lot of moisture.
This led to one official from Big Sky Resort in an interview with The Weather Channel describing this year’s snowpack as "coastal snow".
It’s good for the health of the snowpack, and it’s a promising sign as we get ready to fill reservoirs across the state.
Moisture totals are well above average, some of the wettest years ever, for Kalispell and Missoula.
The wettest storms have had a tendency to track into northwestern rather than southwestern Montana all winter and spring.
Butte’s rainfall this month is actually a little bit less than on April 16 of 2016.The Hyalite drainage near Bozeman is already suffering from low snowpack.

One potential way to protect crops is by spraying them with a compound that induces the plants to become more drought resistant.
Now, by identifying the key molecular mechanism that enables a plant to minimize water loss, researchers may be one step closer to that goal.
They produce a hormone, called abscisic acid, or ABA, that binds to a protein, called a PYL receptor, triggering a chain of reactions that eventually closes the plant’s pores on its leaves.
The key is the ABA hormone.
But the details for how ABA works have been elusive.
Experimental techniques such as X-ray diffraction can take snapshots of the hormone before and after binding to the PYL receptor, but they can’t catch the two in the act.
Using molecular dynamic simulations, the researchers have, for the first time, revealed the molecular details for how ABA binds with the PYL receptor.
For PYL receptors whose crystal structures are known, their binding pocket — the part of the protein that binds to ABA — is the same.
While researchers may still want to confirm this mechanism in other plants, such as rice — whose PYL receptor structure is known — the hunt for an ABA mimic can now begin, Shukla said.
The goal is to find a compound that can work on all species without resorting to genetic engineering.

; Bids for Oroville Dam repair top state estimates; $275.4 million the lowest; Governor defends State’s handling of Oroville Dam Spillway emergency; ‘Broken promises’: County officials, public sound off on current and historical problems at Oroville Dam; USGS finds vast reserves of salty groundwater underneath California; Report: We can’t stop sea level rise, only slow it down; How legalized marijuana applies to boaters; and more … In the news this weekend … How the drought changed California forever: “California’s historic five-year drought is officially over, washed away with the relentlessly drenching rains, floods and snowstorms of this winter.
“This was the wake-up call of the century.” … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News here: How the drought changed California forever State will increase water deliveries to Southern California: “State officials said Friday Southern California water agencies will soon get close to a full of allotment of water — 85 percent — following several winter storms that broke rain and snow records across the state.
The announcement came one week after Gov.
Bids for Oroville Dam repair top state estimates; $275.4 million the lowest: “Blowing past state officials’ financial projections, three construction contractors submitted bids for the Oroville Dam repairs that begin at $275 million, the Department of Water Resources said Saturday.
… ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Bids for Oroville Dam repair top state estimates; $275.4 million the lowest Governor defends State’s handling of Oroville Dam Spillway emergency: “California Gov.
… ” Read more from CBS News here: Governor defends State’s handling of Oroville Dam Spillway emergency ‘Broken promises’: County officials, public sound off on current and historical problems at Oroville Dam: “A deluge of grievances regarding long-stalled relicensing, management and repairs at the Oroville Dam prompted by the recent crisis at the reservoir were aired at the Butte County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday (April 11).
If we encounter it in the course of our operations, we will enforce those laws,” says Lt. Cmdr.
… ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee here: Dear California water officials: After Oroville Dam scare, why should we trust you?
“There is no river like the Eel.
Maven’s Notebook where California water news never goes home for the weekend

Cold-pressed raw juice maker Drought is preparing to quadruple its production space and open a second store in Royal Oak as wholesale and retail customer demand rises for its fresh drinks.
The Royal Oak-based raw juice company run by James and three of her sisters has plans to open a second store in Detroit and two stores in Ann Arbor later this year.
The bigger kitchen production and new retail stores come as the six-year-old organic juice company is planning to expand its scope and reach into new markets.
Drought’s plastic bottled raw juice is now sold at 32 retailers in five Midwest states.
The privately held company does not disclose total sales data, James said.
Drought hopes to use Endeavor’s network of entrepreneurs to help build a national presence in the raw juice market, James said.
"They’re opening you up to a community of very serious businesspeople who could take you to the next level," James said.
Their company began with a $13,000 Kickstarter campaign in 2011.
Drought’s other three stores are in Bloomfield Hills, downtown Plymouth and inside the Chrysler House building in downtown Detroit.
"We’re going to capture northbound (Woodward Avenue) traffic, which we already have, and southbound traffic with this new location," James said.

0 A water shortage order was issued last week by the South Florida Water Management District as a warning that mandatory cutbacks may follow.
While the Water Management District’s board of directors stopped short of requiring reduced water use, the order emphasizes the importance of following year-round yard irrigation rules and asks people to increase voluntary water-conservation efforts.
The year-round watering rules approved in 2010 allow people to water their lawns two days per week in most counties.
Watering should not be done between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
“This effort will help your water supply last through the remainder of the dry season.” South Florida rains usually pick up in mid-May.
Despite receiving only 46 percent of normal rainfall since November, Palm Beach County’s drought conditions improved slightly this week.
According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, 63 percent of the county is considered “abnormally dry” — the lowest level on a five-tier drought scale.
About 26 percent of the county is in a “moderate drought” and 11 percent in a “severe drought.” Last week, about 60 percent of the county was in the moderate drought range.
That’s up from 13 percent last week.
As of Thursday, there were 92 active wildfires on state land.

“We weren’t worried about winning or beating North and the whole name thing, we just said this is a conference game and we want to start the doubleheader 1-0.
We stayed focused and we didn’t really make it a big deal or think ahead, and it was awesome to finally get the win.” South Medford 6-1, North Medford 3-8 RECAP: South Medford senior Pat Moore scores three runs after going 3-for-4 and strikes out 14 in the opener.
North Medford gets six of its 10 hits in Game 2 during the fourth and fifth innings to break the game open with seven straight runs.
The Panthers (8-4, 5-2) were up 4-3 in the seventh when Moore led off the inning with a double, Alexander walked and senior Bailee Tatum singled to load the bases.
After gaining its first lead in the doubleheader, North Medford took off from there and Austin didn’t allow a single baserunner over the final four innings of play.
“Once we got that lead we were not going to give it up, we had it from there,” said Austin, who struck out four and allowed five hits overall in Game 2.
“In this game it’s a matter of getting the timely hits,” said Black Tornado head coach Mike Mayben.
Early in the second game we had runners on third and we didn’t get those timely hits but as the game progressed we started getting those hits and building a little confidence.
South Medford;200;020;2;—;6;11;3 North Medford;002;010;0;—;3;4;2 Moore and Tatum; Austin and Salvador.
South Medford;010;000;0;—;1;5;1 North Medford;000;341;x;—;8;10;0 Moore and Tatum; Austin and Milam.

Catholic university students aid drought-stricken communities in Kenya.
NAIROBI, Kenya – Students at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa took a stand and joined faculty and staff to raise money and collect food for people living in Kenya’s drought-stricken communities.
In the process, the students learned that even a small donation could go a long way to ease the threat of starvation facing thousands of people in arid parts of the country.
Karen Rono, 20, a third-year law student, contributed $50 to the cause, enough to buy several sacks of corn or rice.
Another law student, Nelson Ng’ang’a, 20, said that seeing images in various media of suffering people motivated him to support the effort.
The weeklong campaign extended across the university’s four campuses in the region around the Kenyan capital.
Mbae sent the first truckload of food and supplies April 7 from the university’s main campus, known as Langata, waving a school flag as students watched.
“This year, the university chose to be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters affected by the drought,” he said.
“This was in response to the call by the Catholic bishops and the government.
“I have managed to raise money that has afforded me to purchase two sacks maize (corn) flour.

The Drought Is Over, Right?
Not in These 4 Counties.
Gov.
Jerry Brown recently lifted his emergency drought declaration for all of California except four counties: Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Tuolumne.
He says communities and water systems in these four counties were among the hardest-hit by the drought, and when wells went dry and people were left without water, the emergency declaration made possible state funding for relief efforts.
“We couldn’t do it without the state,” he says.
Since the emergency was announced in 2014, Coyne says, Tulare County has received more than $170 million in state and federal funds for ongoing relief projects.
Some are short-term measures like mobile showers, water tanks placed in people’s front yards and well deepening.
Others are permanent fixes.
He expects that will take another year or two.